@littlemouse: I agree that end user feedback is useful. However, “over the top” carping is…not productive, useful or dignified. In other words, those who are complaining should simply state the problem that they are experiencing and restrain themselves from sarcasm and complaints that are out of proportion to the importance of the problem.
@Whitey: Yes, I have been kicking around in this forum for long enough to remember…simpler times. However, I really feel that many folks are putting just a bit too much vitriol into their complaints, given the trivial nature of the situation in the total scheme of things.
There was an old saying, something along the lines of… I complained because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet. As I said…people should try to put things in their proper perspective.
With all respect, shadowfax, you are contributing more to this site than server fees. Without people like you answering questions, this forum would have much less traffic, and the revenue generated by selling advertising would be much less. It’s folks like you and VDCdriver that bring traffic to this site, and that traffic is what allows cartalk.com to charge whatever it charges for advertising.
The folks who come here for help are getting something for free. The folks who come here to help are putting money in someone else’s pockets, and deserve to be considered when these decisions are made. The folks who donate their time to help others have a right to be miffed at poor execution.
At the risk of asking what may seem to be a very dumb question - are you using the search box underneath the Ask a Question button? The sitewide search box was not working, and has been disabled until it can be fixed. The community search appears to be working.
It’s a bit of a hash as the British would say. I’m getting various error messages including opening another tab due to website problem, can’t open at this time due to a website problem, and of course, the proverbial “Send an Internet Explorer Error Report” followed by starting from scratch again.
As much as I would like to think that I am some sort of mega revenue generator for the site (and I do thank you for the compliment), I tend to doubt that the site itself is anywhere close to a large revenue stream for NPR, especially when one considers the awesome (especially in today’s media environment) amount of money they have to play with.
That said, if being here to answer a few questions were work or were in my mind worthy of compensation whether monetary or the right to veto proposed site changes, I would not be here. I don’t work for free.
In short, I don’t feel that the fact that some of us answer questions on here gives us the right to do more than suggest or politely complain. I never objected to complaining about the site. I objected to the snark employed in those complaints. This is Cartalk’s website, not 4chan. We’re better than that.
I am getting “Internet Explorer has stopped working, Windows can check online for a solution to the problem; >Check on line for a solution and close the Program or >Close program” This occurs randomly. When the Close program button is clicked the web site proceeds to completion and continues operation. Sometimes a message comes up “tab is being recovered” before the site recovers and proceeds.
When I pull up diagnostics I get Event: APP Crash; Name 1explore.exe; Ver 8.0.6001.19019; more.
May I offer a little free advice to some of you? Internet Explorer is probably the biggest hole in your online security. Here is a Facebook conversation I recently had with a couple top notch IT guys:
Whitey: Good morning, guys! Can either of you recommend free spyware-free virus protection? A friend of mine recommended http://free.avg.com/, but I would like your opinion.
Jeff: Howdy. AVG is the best free one, in my opinion.
The best thing you can do on Windows above and beyond that is not use Internet Explorer (in favor of chrome or firefox), and use extensions that block Flash and Scripting except for whitelisted sites.
Mike: I’ve been using MS Security Essentials - I assume it works well. Ditto on the Chrome/Firefox switch.
Whitey: Thanks for the advice, guys. I have been preaching the anti-IE message too to everyone who will listen for a long time. I figure since that machine is running Windows 7 with the security options enabled, I don’t need a whole security suite, and I am savvy enough not to click on the “you don’t have the plug-in” links I see when streaming the NFL on Russian websites. Thanks again!
Whitey: Jeff, I don’t really understand what you mean by “…and use extensions that block Flash and Scripting except for whitelisted sites.” Can you explain that in laymen’s terms?
I have no idea what your guys problem is, I am often on an old tablet pc, No virus protection, adblock for firefox, mcafee site advisor, sure my answers are terse as I use the onscreen keyboard, but it is not the site that is screwed up, it works fine for me. Repeat, repeat/
Site is now working fine with Firefox 7. Sorry if the title of my post is a bit snide, but it’s frustrating when something works great, then is broken in the process of doing an update that most feel unnecessary. It feels the same as when your favorite grocery store decides to rearrange where everything is. Why? For ‘efficiency.’ Then just when you’re used to the new plan, it’s time to rearrange things again. I’m going through a similar thing at work where people are being shuffled to different cubes/offices, and different buildings, apparently with no rhyme or reason, and I know that in 6 months, it will be some overpaid fool’s idea to do it again. So perhaps the site redesign hit a nerve. Ever hear “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” ?
Waterboy, when a site is programmed, different browsers interpret the coding differently. Different companies have their own take on web standards, Microsoft being the worst–MS likes to define their own standards and whatever was agreed upon by the standards committee be damned. Imagine if the different automakers decided that a 9/16 bolt can actually be 9/19 because it works better for them. So programmers frequently have to accommodate all of the different browsers’ quirks. Sometimes the site has to essentially be programmed twice: Once for IE, again for the rest that adhere to the agreed upon standards. Usually in a battle like this if time is short, Internet Explorer wins out because it is the most widely used, even if it’s the biggest offender. Things are getting a little better with every iteration of IE, but it’s still a case of MS vs. the rest of the world.
So long story short, if it works for you, great, but it can still be the site that’s screwed up even if you’re having no problems. Kudos to cdaquila and others that fixed the most glaring of problems in record time.
@Waterboy, if you are so lax on internet security that you can’t even be bothered to install free virus protection, I don’t think that is a good example for others to follow.
You can go your whole life without wearing a seatbelt and live to be an old man, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
So far, this new whatever is working fine for me. Mac, safari. I really like the grey bar with the links, now when someone asks for a good mechanic, we can just point them to that bar instead of having to do a site search for mechanics files.
Under “Fun Stuff”, wish you would bring back the weekly mailbag, I used to really enjoy it. Also there should be a shortcut to the best of the “Weekly Mail Bag” for links to the college letters, the Andy Scale, cat flaps, etc. They are very funny, but they are getting harder to find when I want to share them with friends.
“@Waterboy, if you are so lax on internet security that you can’t even be bothered to install free virus protection, I don’t think that is a good example for others to follow.”
I do not recommend any user go without av protection. My tablet pc is old and even AVG a great free antivirus program slowed it down too much for my satisfaction. I have nothing of importance on the computer, so reinstalling the OS should something happen is not a concern. I administer AV for 40 computers and would not dare have one on our work network without protection. Site adviser and adblocker help me stay away from potentially bad sites, and prevent potential popup risk, but even good sites can be compromised.
USE AN ANTIVIRUS ANTISPYWARE PROGRAM FIREWALL IS MY RECOMMENDATION, just to be clear.
